UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FALLS

A number of news articles since the beginning of June, 2014 have been published pointing out the fall of the unemployment rate. In the Westchester County Business Journal on June 2, 2014, an article was written about unemployment rates falling. The article is entitled “April unemployment below 5% in Westchester”. Seven counties in the Hudson Valley Region reported the unemployment rate fell to 4.8%, the lowest level for April in 6 years. Only Long Island had a lower rate of unemployment at 4.5%. Unemployment in the Hudson Valley in April was down from 6% in March, 2014 and 6.4% in April, 2013.

Unemployment, per the Labor Department, said 52,900 workers were unemployed in the region compared to 66,100 in March and 271,000 in April, 2013. Westchester County had a 4.6% unemployment rate in April, 2014, down from 5.7% in March and 6% in April, 2013. Westchester had the sixth lowest unemployment rate statewide in April, 2014.

Putnam County led the region with a 4.2% unemployment rate down from 5.2% in March, 2014 and 5.8% in April, 2013. Putnam and Nassau Counties had the second lowest unemployment rate in the State. Rockland County had a 4.4% unemployment rate in April, 2014, down from 5.3% in March 2014 and 5.6% in April, 2013. Putnam, Rockland & Westchester gained 6600 private sector jobs in April, 2014 from the previous month. The leisure and hospitality industry added 2400 jobs in April, 2014.

In the same newspaper on June 9, 2014, an article by Laurence Gottlieb was published featuring the Hudson Valley Economic Development Corp. This was the first ever State of the Hudson Valley economy. The event, per the article, comes at a positive time for the Hudson Valley regional economy. Unemployment rates fell drastically through April, 2014. In three counties, Orange, Ulster and Sullivan posted the lowest unemployment rate since the beginning of the recession in 2008. The article points out participation the regional labor force has been on the decline. There are about 1% fewer people working.

In the USA Today for the Journal News on June 28, 2014, published an article “Outlook is on the upswing” by Doug Carroll. This article deals with consumers’ mood. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan surveys consumers sentiment index for June, 2014 rose to 82.5 from 81.9 in May. The U.S. gained more than 200,000 jobs a month in February through May, 2014. June’s consumer sentiment survey found 40% share of households reported financial gains in the past year, the highest in 7 years.

Finally, the latest report on unemployment was published in USA Today for the Journal News on July 4, 2014 entitled “June was blow out month for jobs, unemployment at lowest since 2008”. 288,000 jobs were added in June, 2014 nationwide. Retailers added 40,000 job and leisure and hospitality added 39,000 including 33,000 jobs for restaurants and bars. Architectural and Engineering Services added 7,200 job, the most in 2 years. Payrolls for financial, insurance and real estate firms jumped by 17,000 jobs since March, 2012. The jobless rate in the USA fell to 6.8% vs. 6.3% in May, 2014, the lowest rate since September, 2008.

The economy has now gained at least 200,000 jobs a month for the past 5 months. In June, businesses added 262,000 jobs with professional and business services, retail and health care leading the gains. Stronger payroll gains lead to higher consumer spending and further employment advances. Other labor indicators are also improving. Initial claims for unemployment benefits have fallen to pre-recession levels and surveys of service sector employment are indicating a pickup in hiring.

With all this good news in the drop in unemployment, we are the continued increase in home sales.

If you are in need of an attorney, contact The Law Firm of Dominick J. Robustelli & Associates, PLLC at (914) 288-0800.